I constantly get little flags coming up on my computer telling me it’s time to update my virus connection. It’s probably a good move because those who have nothing better to do than annoy people keep coming up with sneakier viruses. Or I am being told to upgrade to the latest version of Windows etc. In some of these things we don’t have much choice because eventually the old systems don’t always work anymore because they are not compatible with the newer systems. Sometimes we don’t have to upgrade. People ask me why I drive old cars and I tell them, Because the speed limit is 100kph, which is what it was when I was a boy!. Why should I forks out tens of thousands of dollars to go down the road at the same speed that cars did 50 years ago? I’ve got better things to spend my money on.
But we’re only speaking of things technological and it matters little. But we are constantly being told we need to upgrade and update in other areas of our life too. It is in these other areas that our concerns must lie. Should every standard of life be up for grabs and open to change? Is there nothing stable anymore? Though there are those who think that it is man, not God, who establishes right from wrong, I’ve never met anyone who was prepared to say that everything should be changed. Those who advocate abortion and euthanasia think that the laws against murder should remain for the people between the womb and the retirement village. Many who are supportive of homosexuality, are quite critical of adultery and paedophilia. Many believe the old laws against stealing should remain and so on. Even those who call themselves post-modernists and believe that all things are open and possible, still want core values to be in place to hold society together so they can practice their post-modernism – witness the ‘modern art’ of the leaning obelisks in the main street of Toowoomba: what are the foundations like? You can be assured they built the foundations according to the “old’ formula.
There are some things that do not change: we still breathe through our nose and mouth into our lungs. We still see with our eyes, hear with our ears and speak using our tongue etc. When God made man he made him with a purpose in mind, and that purpose hasn’t changed, regardless of what we may accomplish in this world. Many things are used for purposes they weren’t actually designed for: I made a drill press out of a valiant car diff, steering box and pitman arm from a VW, a wheelbarrow wheel and a washing machine motor. None of those ingredients were made for that purpose. I once turned a frying pan into an intake manifold for a ‘55 Pontiac. Well, the body is not for fornication (1 Cor. 6:13), but it can be used for that. Life was not designed to be lived by bread alone but many live as if it was.
God has an eternal purpose (Eph. 3:11). Therefore, we have an eternal purpose. This is what so many people forget, ignore, or get sidetracked from. It is easy to get caught up with the moment and forget the big picture. It is for an eternal fellowship with the Creator, serving Him in unimaginable ways whilst sharing in His glory. Who could possibly deserve such an honour? Jesus spoke of those who were counted worthy (Luke 20:35) for such. Paul spoke of those who by patient continuance in well-doing seek for glory and honour and eternal life (Rom. 2:7). So this life becomes the proving ground for man, the creature in God’s own image.
Perhaps there is a sense of frustration in the probation and preparation of life. A lot of life is preparation: eg. going to school, apprenticeship, university etc. Patience and determination are required in those aspects, but part of the answer is to keep your eyes upon the goal, and keep going. The time will come when you will do these things you want to get your teeth into.
What didn’t we like about school? Doing simple things when we wanted to do bigger problems? We must learn to be faithful in that which is little in order to be granted greater things (Luke 16:10-12). The Bible declares mans’ destiny, and the Bible declares the way for man to attain it. God’s design is sure and needs no modification. What made sense then, makes sense now.
Take the home. There is a lot of call for a change in the design of the home and what constitutes a family. What did Jesus say about all that? (Matt.19:1-12) He went back to the beginning; haven’t you read that He which made them at the beginning…..? There is no better design. The husband/father leads (Gen. 3:16), the wife/mother helps (as also says the law – 1 Cor. 14:34), and the children obey (Eph. 6:1ff – the first command with promise). That works! Many homes don’t work because the members don’t know what the design rules are. Made sense then, makes sense now.
Jesus also spoke of His spiritual family; that he was going to build His church (Matt.16:18). Because it is His, He is the head (Col. 1:18; Eph.1:22,23). The Pope was not part of the original design and the church has no earthly headquarters. Like the physical family there is a design for it. Because every congregation is under His Headship, and not that of some man, each is autonomous. The world became morally bankrupt at one time and it reached ‘critical mass’ – that is, only one family remained faithful to God so how long could they hold out? He flooded the world and after that divided them into nations to give the world a moral economy. One nation doesn’t have to go into a moral cesspool because another does, and one can be used to punish another which has become corrupt.
The wisdom of congregational autonomy is that if one congregation forsakes the Biblical pattern other congregations do not have to follow suite. You may noticed at times, disruptions in denominational churches because of the doctrinal stance of the hierarchy. For example, African bishops in the Anglican church threatened U.S. and British bishops because of their stance on homosexuality. That’s the problem when you have a man-made system of leadership. Many are threatening, and many have, to leave that church, because that’s the only recourse you have with a man-made church. I cannot leave the church of the Lord without forfeiting my salvation for He has chosen to save in His church (Acts 20:28; Eph. 5:23). But I don’t have to leave it with the Lord’s design for He, the Head, never changes and never fails.. Made sense then, makes sense now.
Worship has always been important to the Lord. He has specified how man is to render acceptable worship in every dispensation. Man wants to upgrade. Man was upon the earth but a short time when Cain changed the worship of God. Moses was gone less than 6 weeks and the children of Israel had made a golden calf. Solomon was still warm in the burial chamber and Jeroboam had led the Northern Kingdom into a new way of worshipping. The New Testament era has seen it share of changes in Christian worship. The Colossians had gone off into Will Worship (Col. 2:23), meaning it is the human will that determines worship, not the will of God. John 4:24 stresses the need for obedient worship, and the aspects of worship are these – praying, singing, the Lord’s Supper, giving and teaching. 2000 years ago Jesus specified that in the Lord’s Supper we remember His death with unleavened bread and grapejuice. The bread is to remind us of His body, and the juice reminds us of His blood. Made sense then, makes sense now. Music in worship was singing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Playing instruments to create mechanical music was not authorised, but over the years many have thought to add that element to worship. The same old tired arguments that were tried hundreds of years ago to justify it are still trotted out because no new information on the subject has been added in the last 2000 years. We have two choices:- acknowledge that the N.T. does not authorise instrumental music in worship, or say that we do not need authority for the things we do in worship. If we take the second view then we can do anything in worship – burn incense, light candles, or stand on our heads for that matter! To offer in worship what the Lord has commanded made sense then and it makes sense now.
When Christ came into the world He came to a world with many problems, but one problem stood as supreme then as it had since the Garden of Eden. How can sinful man be in fellowship with a holy God? How can sin be forgiven? How can man laid hold on eternal life?
Justice has some hard and fast rules, none greater than that declared in Rom. 6:23 – the wages of sin is death. Jesus came with His gospel (a word meaning good news), and it was for everyone, even the poor (Luke 4:18), the ones who so often miss out on many of the privileges of life. The good news was that sinners could be forgiven of their sin and be granted a home in Heaven. How was this possible without throwing justice out the window? Jesus, the only perfect man to have ever lived, agreed to lay down His perfect life as a ransom for sin, the just for the unjust, a punishment received and a price paid for the sins of others, who did not have anything to offer for the price of their sins except to suffer eternal separation from God in that place prepared for the Devil and his angels – Hell. If men would trust Him and follow Him He would lead them, to eternal glory. To prove He had the power to do this, after he had laid down His life on the cross and had been buried in a tomb, rose from the dead, proving Himself to be the eternal Lord of glory.
To obey the gospel – made sense then and makes sense now – for there has been no change in human life – nobody has come along to surpass Jesus Christ and nothing has come along to surpass His gospel. Despite the advances in technology, man is the same, sin is the same, and its penalty is the same and the cure is the same. And, we might add, man’s desire is the same:- we want to live, not die. And those who die look for something better. The everlasting gospel is the only answer! It made sense then and makes sense now.
The New testament teaches we must believe in Christ, repent of our sins, confess Christ and be united with Him through baptism unto death, whereby the old man of sin being buried with Christ in baptism, sins are washed away, and the person rises to newness of life. Made sense then, makes sense now.